Candor
"Candor value honesty and order. They tell the truth, even when you wish they wouldn't." Candor is one of the five factions in the world of Divergent, and was formed by those who blamed duplicity and deception for human nature's faults. Because of this, the Candor are known to value honesty, and their symbol is a set of unbalanced scales bound by a circle. Their substance in the Choosing Ceremony is glass. Its faction colors are black and white. History Formation Candor was a faction formed by those who blamed duplicity and deception, who believed that dishonesty is the key fault in human nature which began evil and war. They believe in the principle that honesty and openness would lead to a more peaceful and perfect society. Description Candor's symbol is a set of black scales on a white background, which represents their likeness for law and order. So, they tell the truth to uphold the law, and punish liars to keep order in their society. Virtue Tris is exposed to many Candor characters such as Christina and Peter Hayes, whose personalities range from being talkative and social, to emotionally volatile and peaceful, to cruel and sadistic. Many children born into Candor transfer to Dauntless, since honesty and bravery are closely related. Candor are serious about their views on honesty against dishonesty. They see honesty and trustworthiness as the very foundations of morality and character. They look upon honest individuals with high respect, and upon dishonest individuals with deep contempt; those who don't hide their flaws and even open about them are viewed with sympathy by the Candor. Some might describe the Candor as being honest to a fault — even, in some cases, so honest as to be insulting. A member of the Candor faction would rather insult someone with honesty than lie to them; likewise, a member of Candor would rather be insulted with truths and honest opinions than lied to. In fact, it is not uncommon for the Candor prefer the bitter truth or a disrespectful-yet-honest opinion over a comforting lie, or even a half-(lie/truth). They view complete and utter honesty as the ultimate moral and intellectual perfection. Their substance in the Choosing Ceremony is glass, and they wear black and white clothing because they see the truth as only black and white. Throughout the years, the Candor faction provided the people with trustworthy and sound leaders in law and politics. Candor children are seen to make wide gestures with their hands and often appear to be arguing or having intense discussions. They are very truthful and would frankly and tactlessly say what they feel. Physical Traits Despite their belief in fairness and impartiality, the Candor believe that the truth is black-and-white, so that is what they wear. Typically they dress formally, with suits and ties being standard uniform with men and women seen in long skirts, while their everyday clothing is typically black pants and white shirts. They greet each other by shaking hands. Functions In Insurgent, Candor are described by Max (under the control of Jeanine) as the only disposable faction, though they are said in Divergent to make trustworthy and sound leaders in law. Faction-Relations Candor members are often rivals of the members of Amity, as, in their words, "those who seek peace will always deceive to keep the waters calm." This means that, from a Candor's view, peace-seekers will always find it easier to maintain tranquility when citizens chose to set aside their differences and deficiencies, either by botching or leaving out even trivial details, and thus concealing who they really are - which goes against Candor beliefs. Their rivalry is not believed to be as fierce as the one between Erudite and Abnegation. It is likely that Candor would see Abnegation as similar to Amity -- lying to keep the peace, and self-denial as a form of lying (not being true to and honest with oneself). Candor has a decent relationship with Dauntless because bravery and honesty can tie together closely, and Dauntless' wildness and "recklessness" would likely be seen as another form of honesty to those from Candor (being honest about oneself and one's predilections). Candor's relationship with Erudite seems to be dependent on each individual Candor member; in Insurgent some Candors allied with Erudite, while others allied with Dauntless, once Dauntless was free of Erudite's control and many of the members of Dauntless decided to fight back against Erudite. Candor ManifestoRoth, V (2011) Divergent Manifesto "Dishonesty is rampant, Dishonesty is temporary, Dishonesty makes evil possible." As it stands now, lies pervade society, families, and even the internal life of the individual. One group lies to another group, parents lie to children, children lie to parents, individuals lie to themselves. Dishonesty has become so integral to the way we relate to one another that we rarely find ourselves in authentic relationships with others. Our dark secrets remain our own. Yet it is our secrets that cause conflict. When we are dishonest with the people around us, we begin to hate ourselves for lying; when we are dishonest with ourselves, we can never attempt to correct the flaws we find within us, the flaws we are so desperate to hide from our loved ones, the flaws that make us lie. What has become clear is that lies are just a temporary solution to a permanent problem. Lying to spare a person’s feelings, even when the truth would help them to improve, damages them in the long run. Lying to protect yourself lasts for so long before the truth emerges. Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged. These are examples we clearly see in our own lives, yet we fail to understand that they do not just apply to the dynamic between ourselves and our neighbors, or ourselves and our friends. What is society but a web of individual-to-individual relationships? And what is conflict except one person’s dark secret crashing into another person’s dark secret? Dishonesty is a veil that shields one person from another. Dishonesty allows evil to persist, hidden from eyes of those who would fight it. "Dishonesty leads to suspicion. Suspicion leads to conflict. Honesty leads to peace." We have a vision of an honest world. In this world, parents do not lie to their children, and children do not lie to their parents; friends do not lie to one another; spouses do not lie to each other. When we are asked our opinions we are free to give them without having to consider any other responses. When we engage in conversation with others, we do not have to evaluate their intentions, because they are transparent. We have no suspicion, and no one suspects us. And most of all — yes, above all else —we are free to expose our dark secrets because we know the dark secrets of our neighbors, our friends, our spouses, our children, our parents, and our enemies. We know that while we are flawed in a unique way, we are not unique because we are flawed. Therefore we can be authentic. We have no suspicions. And we are at peace with those around us. "Truth makes us transparent. Truth makes us strong. Truth makes us inextricable." We will raise our children to tell the truth. We will do this by encouraging them to speak their minds at every moment. For the child, withholding words is the same as lying. We will be honest with our children even at the expense of their feelings. The only reason people cannot bear honesty now is because they were not raised hearing the truth about themselves, and they can’t stand to. If children are raised to hear both honest praise and honest criticism, they will not be so fragile as to crumble beneath the scrutiny of their peers. A life of truth makes us strong. Adulthood will be defined as a time at which each member of society is capable of bearing every other member’s dark secrets, just as every other member will be subjected to The Full Unveiling in which every hidden part of their life is laid bare before their fellow members. They, too, will see the hidden parts of their fellow members’ lives. In this way we bear one another’s secrets. In this way we become inextricable. The truth makes us inextricable." Beliefs *Value honesty. *See truth as black or white. *Blame duplicity for the world's problems. *Believe that politeness is "deception in pretty packaging". Candor Initiation To become a member of Candor, members must take lie detector tests all day, every day. During the final test initiates are given "truth serum" and must sit in front of everyone as they ask questions. They believe if you reveal all of your secrets, you'll have no desire to lie about anything, ever again because the worst is already in the open. Trivia *A black suit with a white tie is standard Candor uniform. *Members tell the truth in all aspects of the aptitude test, including when shown a picture of a man and asked to identify him. *Members learn to read body language so that they know when someone is lying or keeping something from them. *You always know where you stand with others, because they tell you. There is no manipulation. *The Candor Headquarters is located in a building that was once called the "Merchandise Mart"- now referred to as "Merciless Mart". *Before allowing members of other factions to take refuge in their headquarters, they are interrogated under the truth serum. **The truth serum is Candor's specialty serum. *Some members smoke cigarettes. *Members are allowed to keep pets. *In Dauntless slang, the Candor are called "Candor smart mouths ". *Ice cream is the preferred dessert of the Candor. References Category:Canon Category:Factions